Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes

This programme is aimed at students with a primary degree in engineering or cognate physical science who wish to develop a career or engage with further studies in materials science and engineering leading to a professionally accredited qualification. We value and therefore encourage students to be engaged, autonomous learners who have a critical and problem-solving approach to materials as they are used in both common and advanced engineering applications. Of key importance within the learning experience is the ability of the student to work individually or within teams and to communicate their ideas and outcomes effectively. Students should also not lose sight of the ethical, environmental or human perspectives within which they work. We aim to provide a stimulating learning environment with a wide-ranging and relevant taught curriculum that is underpinned by a hands-on laboratory experience that will encourage students to develop a deep understanding of structure-property relationships in materials. A significant period of structured internship at an industrial partner is a key component of the programme. A variety of teaching, learning and assessment strategies are used to achieve the desired outcomes including individual and team assignments, technical presentations, internship assessment and a significant supervised research project. These are subject to assessment on both a continuous and end-of-trimester basis.

• Advanced knowledge and understanding of the mathematics, sciences, engineering sciences and technologies underpinning their branch of engineering.
• An understanding of the need for high ethical standards in the practice of engineering, including the responsibilities of the engineering profession towards people, society and the environment.
• The ability to communicate effectively on complex technical activities with the engineering and science community and with society at large.
• The ability to design and conduct experiments and to apply a range of standard and specialised research (or equivalent) tools and techniques of enquiry.
• The ability to identify, formulate, analyse and solve complex engineering problems.
• The ability to perform the detailed design of a novel system, component or process using analysis and interpretation of relevant data.
• The ability to work effectively as an individual, in teams and in multidisciplinary settings, together with the capacity to undertake lifelong learning.

If you are a graduate of the ME Materials Science and Engineering programme you can look forward to limitless employment opportunities in leading companies of the manufacturing, biomedical, aerospace, energy and electronic sectors. Manufacturing accounts for 24% of Irish economic output and employs 20% of the Irish workforce directly or indirectly. Ireland’s aerospace and aviation industry is worth over €4.1 billion to the Irish economy, and there are more than 250 companies involved in the aerospace, aviation and space sectors in Ireland, providing employment for around 42,000 full-time workers. Moreover, Ireland hosts 18 of the world’s top 25 medtech companies and a multi-national semi-conductor manufacturing company (Intel Leixlip), overall employing over 40,000 people. UCD materials graduates have taken up roles such as data scientist, manufacturing engineer, development engineer, and research engineer, in different industrial sectors including aerospace (General Electric, Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics), electronics (Intel), biomedical (Boston Scientific, Stryker, DePuy Synthes) and energy (Siemens).

View All Modules Here

This section links to general module information, for a more detailed description including module selection rules click here.

ME Materials Science & Engineering (T275) Full Time
EU          Year 2 - € 8410 ^aa
nonEU    Year 2 - € 26400 ^aa
EU          Year 1 - € 8830
nonEU    Year 1 - € 27720

^aaSecond Year Fee applies to Students in 2nd Year in 2023 and who were a 1st Year Student on the programme in 2022/23
***Fees are subject to change

Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see www.ucd.ie/global/scholarships/​.

The Professional Work Experience (PWE) module is incorporated into the two-year Masters of Engineering Programme and is designed to integrate a student’s academic and career interests with practical work experience for a 6-8 month period. 

The module provides students with the perfect opportunity to gain increased experience and understanding of their chosen field, assess where their strengths and weaknesses lie and maximise their knowledge of the available career possibilities. The practical skills acquired during this placement will give graduates a competitive advantage when applying for positions upon graduation.

The programme is professionally dual accredited by both the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and Engineers Ireland. 

• An honours undergraduate degree (NFQ Level 8) with a minimum upper second class honours or international equivalence in an Engineering or cognate Physical Sciences degree programme.
• Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0 in each element), or equivalent.
• Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the  English language requirements, may enter the programme upon  successful completion of UCD’s Pre-Sessional or International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information http://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/ 
• These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes 

Graduate Profile - Matteo Nicolasi, Stryker

"The ME in Materials Science and Engineering provided me with the knowledge and experience necessary for the next step in my professional career. What convinced me to choose this programme was its interdisciplinary nature and the exposure to a wide range of engineering subjects that comes with it. The programme manages to combine theoretical learning and practical experiences masterfully and allowed me to do an internship at the Nano Imaging and Materials Analysis Centre at UCD. Here I gained hands-on experience in advanced electron microscopy and I was put, since day one, at the centre of the laboratory daily operations. Thanks to this experience and the excellent education that this programme provided me with, I was able to obtain a job at one of the world’s leading biomedical engineering companies where I currently work as R&D engineer."

• ME Mechanical Engineering FT
• MEngSc Materials Science and Engineering FT

The following entry routes are available:

* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised